American Josef Newgarden of Team Penske denied Sweden’s Marcus Ericsson back-to-back Indianapolis 500 wins after a dramatic climax at the Brickyard.
Three red flags late in the race set up a two-lap shootout with Ericsson leading the restart.
But Newgarden, who moved from fourth to second under race control, sped past him to win, leading to criticism from the Swede over the stoppages.
“I just thought it was an unfair and dangerous end to the race,” he said.
“I don’t think there were enough laps to do what we did.”
The win for Newgarden gave team owner Roger Penske his 19th Indy 500 win but first since his purchase of the IndyCar Series in 2019.
The 32-year-old, regarded as the best driver never to win the Indy 500, had to be patient in a race which was restarted three times late on with first eight laps to go, then four and finally two.
However, the most shocking accident came with 15 laps to go when Felix Rosenqvist made contact with Kyle Kirkwood, sending a tyre flying over the safety fencing and narrowly missing landing in the grandstand before crashing into a car in the car park.
Kirkwood escaped serious injury with emergency workers righting the car and helping him to climb out.
But Newgarden held his nerve, denying Ericsson the chance to become the first back-to-back winner since Brazil’s Helio Castroneves achieved the feat in 2001 and 2002.
“I’m so thankful, started as a fan in the crowd, it is amazing. I love this city,” said Newgarden, who was twice IndyCar Series champion in 2017 and 2019
“I was emotional in the last 10 laps, I knew I was in a position to fight. I’m just thankful that the team, everyone, that we finally got this done.
“I was trying to put it off, it’s not going to define your career winning the race here but everyone seems to want to make it a defining moment so for me it’s impossible not to look at it that way.”